LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Board of Supervisors continued their series of special meetings on the Cannabis ordinance on Tuesday, this time to discuss cultivation.
This meeting gave the public the opportunity to voice their position on cultivation boundaries suggested by the county.
The proposed draft sets boundaries 100 feet away from any spring, bank of any stream, the edge of lakes, wetlands or vernal pools. For Clear Lake, the line is measured from a point assuming the lake sits at 7.79 feet at the Rumsey Gauge.
The ordinance also states there can be no cultivation within 1,000 feet of any public or private schools, developed parks with playground equipment, drug or alcohol rehabilitation centers, childcare or nursery schools, church or youth orientated facility.
This leaves the county with very little room for marijuana. In addition, district 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said he did not want any cultivation for recreational purposes in his district. This area includes Kelseyville, Clear Lake Riviera, Buckingham, Loch Lomond and parts of Cobb Mountain. The district includes various spots of open land, but Brown pointed out his constituents were largely opposed to grow sites.
Regulations passed by other bodies limit recreational cultivation in cities. In addition, the map bars cultivation in places where people own property and send a request to the county Planning Division that no marijuana be grown nearby.
If the map stands, the largest area where commercial cultivation will be able to take place is in District 1. The standards also vary depending upon how marijuana is grown, whether it is indoor, outdoor or mixed lighting. Yet the ordinance remains in a conceptual phase, with more public comment to come. All of the points are subject to change.
“We cannot prohibit people growing cannabis, we can regulate it and say where it can be grown, but we cannot stop people from growing,” said Robert Massarelli, director of the county’s planning division.
The public hearings were introduced in order to hear feedback from the community. Manufacturing, distribution and retail were discussed in the previous meeting. Massarelli said he expects items in the proposed ordinance will be narrowed down as time passes and parts of it are approved.
“This is a major factor in the ordinance and how we move forward,” Massarelli said. “After that we will see how we proceed with the ordinance.”
As it currently stands, those now growing for medicinal purposes will be grandfathered in as long as they stay in good standing.
Brown said there are a lot of aspects in the ordinance that were not covered and when people start noticing that others are not paying for permits to grow marijuana, they eventually will not pay for permits either to make a profit and sell on the black market.
“Impacts on the environment and the county will occur, whether we go through with the ordinance or not, what we are trying to see is what the impact of the ordinance is,” Massarelli said.
